Chapter 85

Ivan laughs at me then, at my speechlessness, and I can’t help myself – I laugh too, putting my head in my hands.

“Yes,” I say, blushing terribly. “I have heard of you. And I have to say, it has not all been good things.”

“Oh, come on,” he says, still laughing a little. “It can’t have been all bad.”

I peek out from between my fingers and raise an eyebrow at him letting him know that, yeah. It’s all been bad.

“What,” he says, joking, “nobody told you about my striking good looks or my debonaire sense of style when they were telling you about my success in the drug trade?”

I shake my head slowly, finding myself laughing again. I can’t help it – he’s terribly charming.

“Well,” he says, giving me a sexy little half-smile. “Now you know.”

Ivan catches the eye of a waiter and holds up a hand. “Two shots of tequila,” he says, definitive. The waiter nods, walking the short distance to the little bar and interrupting the bar tender to get the order in right away.

“What –“ I say, my eyes following the waiter. “No, I can’t –“

“Oh, come on, Fay,” Ivan says, leaning back in his chair. “Relax. I can tell you’ve just had the surprise of your life. You need a little something to settle the nerves.”

The waiter comes back and Ivan takes the drinks from him, sliding him a folded bill and giving him a wink. I can tell by the waiter’s pleasure that it’s a gigantic tip.

I hesitate, but Ivan winks at me as well and holds the shot nearer to me.

So, I take it from his hand, shrugging. The truth was, I could use a little bit of a relaxant right now. If I’m the unwitting bachelorette in my father’s little setup, then I’m not sure I want to do it sober.

“Bottoms up,” I say, taking the lime off the edge of the glass and holding it up to toast Ivan. He does the same, and then watches me slowly lick the salt from the rim of the glass and toss my shot back before doing the same.

The tequila is sharp in my throat and sinuses and I can’t help it as my whole body shudders. I make a face, then, at the taste of it, sticking out my tongue and pressing my eyes closed.

I can hear Ivan laugh at me. “The lime,” he says. “Bite the lime.”

Fall For My Ex's Mafia Father Chapter 0084 I do, and, indeed, it brings some relief, the acid of the lime chasing away the sharpness of the tequila on my tongue.

I laugh as I open my eyes again, meeting Ivan’s smile with my own. He gestures to the waiter again, ordering another round, and I lean back in my chair, letting him.

I’m a little surprised at myself, then – a feeling that’s becoming oddly more familiar as the weeks pass. Fay of a few weeks ago would have run screaming when she found out that she was doing shots of tequila with the wunderkind head of a mafia organization. With Kent’s worst enemy.

But Fay of today? Honestly, I’m kind of enjoying myself.

“See?” Ivan says, leaning closer to me. “You’re already more relaxed.”

“You’re right,” I murmur, looking around at all of the people in the circle – at all of my suitors, apparently. I shake my head at the ridiculousness of it all, at the wasted effort.

After all, I’m engaged to Daniel, and I’m very happy to be.

...Right?

The waiter comes and delivers our second glass of tequila. This time, it’s Ivan’s turn to introduce the toast.

“To Fay,” he says, raising his glass. I smile and raise mine along with him. “The most eligible bachelorette of the city’s underworld. Too bad she’s already got a rock the size of a golf ball on her hand. More’s the pity for the rest of us.”

My glass shakes a little against my mouth as I laugh at his joke before downing the contents, holding my lime at the ready as I do.

When we’re finished, I settle back in my chair, leaning a little closer to Ivan so that we can talk quietly.

“So,” I say, actually relaxed, looking at him from beneath half-lidded eyes. “How did a nice boy like you get mixed up in all of this organized crime, anyway? Were you born to it, like me?”